Snap Judgments: Midwest Region Preview

Almost everything was going swimmingly for Dana Altman and the Ducks before Chris Boucher’s ACL tear last week at the Pac-12 Tournament. Can Oregon, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest, recover from that loss to make the Final Four? (Yasmin Vahdatpour/ALOST)

No. 1 Kansas

As astounding as winning 13 consecutive Big 12 regular season championships is, Bill Self has only been able to navigate the Jayhawks to the Final Four after two of those seasons (2008, 2012). Many fans and pundits - myself included - have now come to expect Kansas to be bounced from the NCAA Tournament earlier than their seeding would suggest, but, with the game's best backcourt, Self may very well be able to rewrite that script in 2017. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

No. 1 Kansas

Josh Jackson is the surefire NBA draft pick and Devonte' Graham is the spark plug, but Frank Mason III (left) is the man who may very well win national Player of the Year. He's the player that cannot have an off game if Kansas hopes to make it to Glendale. Good thing he hasn't had too many off games all season long, as this game-winning jumper over Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic (we were fortunate enough to witness this amazing game in person at MSG) would help suggest. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

No. 8 Miami

When making a list of coaches you can trust in the NCAA Tournament, don't forget Miami's Jim Larrañaga, who has made two Sweet 16 appearances with the 'Canes during his six-year tenure in Coral Gables. Of course, that doesn't include his magical run with George Mason to the Final Four in 2006. The coach of the team George Mason beat in the first round that year will be talked about very, very shortly. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 8 Miami

Miami has run hot and cold from the perimeter, a part of the team that was Miami's strength last season when Angel Rodrîguez and Sheldon McClellan were All-ACC performers and led the team to the Sweet 16. Davon Reed, one of the holdovers, is the team's best guard. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 9 Michigan State

Tom Izzo knows Larrañaga very well, as it was Izzo's Spartans that lost to George Mason in the first round in 2006. Eleven years on, and Michigan State may also be one-and-done. It's unfortunate that the Spartans have been hampered all season long by injuries, including the recent season-ending knee injury to guard Eron Harris. All that said, and it's still foolish to ignore the power of Izzo in an NCAA Tournament setting. (Herbert Delancey/America Sports Network)

No. 9 Michigan State

Michigan State's early swoon was caused, outside of its normally murderous schedule, by the early season injury to freshman star Myles Bridges. His return in January somewhat stabilized the team, enough to do enough in the Big Ten to make the NCAA Tournament. Bridges in must-see-TV, an amazing athlete who can take over a game at any time. (ALOST)

No. 9 Michigan State

All of the injuries suffered by the Spartans did have at least one silver lining, as that allowed Nick Ward to emerge as a legitimate threat in the post. While his averages of 13.7 points and 6.5 rebounds seem modest, keep in mind that he puts up those numbers while averaging less than 20 minutes a game (19.6). Simply put: if Ward stays out of foul trouble, he's a monster inside. (ALOST)

No. 5 Iowa State

We got a chance to see Monte Morris in person two years ago in Brooklyn and thought he would become a special player down the road. Two years later, and he's probably the school's best-ever guard.
His three-game performance in the Big 12 Tournament - which the Cyclones won - speaks for itself: 17.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. No team may have more momentum going into the Big Dance than the Cyclones, and he's the reason why. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

No. 12 Nevada

Led by the high-flying Cameron Oliver, the Nevada Wolf Pack have a great chance to be that No. 12 seed to pull off that 5/12 upset,
even with its matchup against the Big 12 Tournament champion.
Beating a very good Colorado State team twice in a week - one in a winner-take-all contest for the regular season title and the other in the Mountain West Conference Tournament title game - says enough to this scribe that Eric Musselman's squad is beyond a legitimate threat to win a game or two in the Dance. (Elizabeth Olson White, via Facebook)

No. 4 Purdue

Is there any more apt nickname in college basketball than the one possessed by Purdue big man Caleb Swanigan, a.k.a. Biggie? We're not sure about his rhymes, but his game is as versatile as the lines spouted off by the Notorious B.I.G., as he's an over 40 percent three-point shooter to go along with his utter dominance in the post. He's no All-America candidate by fluke. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 4 Purdue

Swanigan makes Purdue a Sweet 16 threat, but its perimeter/wing play, which has been underwhelming in the past few years under head coach Matt Painter, is what's going to make the Boilermakers Final Four good. That's exactly what has happened this season, with small forward Vincent Edwards (left) becoming a legitimate second scoring option. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 4 Purdue

Remember when I mentioned that Caleb Swanigan shoots over 40 percent from three-point range? That's the case for the entire team COMBINED, with the Boilers making 40.6 percent of their threes on the season. Coming off the bench, Ryan Cline (14) shoots 41.6 percent from three. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 13 Vermont

Ladies and gentlemen, meet the best player on the team that currently has the nation's longest winning streak. A Lot of Sports Talk was in Suffolk County (Stony Brook) in person last March for last year's America East Tournament Final, when Trae Bell-Haynes (left) and the Vermont Catamounts let a 13-point second half lead slip in losing to Stony Brook in the title game. That game served as motivation for the whole team in 2017, and Vermont went through the league this season without a blemish, on its way to its current 21-game win streak. (Vermont Athletics)

No. 13 Vermont

Not that John Becker's squad had an easy time of it in the America East Final last Saturday. Against perennial league power Albany, the Catamounts had to come back from a nine-point second half deficit on its home floor to hold off the Great Danes. This team is balanced,
hard-nosed, has faced multiple power conference teams in the non-conference the past two seasons, and will not be intimidated by the Boilermakers on Thursday. (Vermont Athletics)

No. 6 Creighton

Head coach Greg McDermott had the Blue Jays humming for the first two months; A win over a top-10 Wisconsin team, a national top 10 ranking themselves soon after and a high-flying offense spearheaded by point guard Maurice Watson Jr. - the nation's assist leader at the time - that was almost averaging 90 points per game. Then Watson went down with an ACL tear in the middle of January, ending the senior's career. It's been a struggle since, but maybe the Jays' run to the Big East Tournament title game will give this team some momentum going into the Big Dance. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 6 Creighton

With the absence of Watson, most of the point guard duties have fallen on the shoulders of Kansas State transfer Marcus Foster,
who brings more of a score-first mentality to the point. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 6 Creighton

Big East Freshman of the Year Justin Patton has been a revelation this season, bringing a very unique skill set to the court with his 7-foot frame. He can still get outmuscled inside because of his lanky frame,
but Patton can score from all spots on the court, including from beyond the arc. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 11 Rhode Island

In the Northeast, you can't talk about the history of basketball too long without mentioning the name "Hurley." This time, it's Danny Hurley who's making waves, as he's led Rhody to its first NCAA Tournament since 1999. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 11 Rhode Island

Last season was supposed to be the breakout year for the Rams, but injuries, namely to star guard E.C. Matthews last season, derailed those plans. His absence allowed fellow guard Jared Terrell (32)
to emerge as a scorer, and he's now a reliable third option behind Matthews and big man Hassan Martin. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 3 Oregon

What to make of the Ducks right now? Well, we've been huge fans of Dana Altman's squad for the past two years, and there are many reasons why we've stayed up many a late night here on the East Coast to take in games in the Great Northwest that involve Oregon. (Yasmin Vahdatpour/ALOST)

No. 3 Oregon

Of course, the main reason is national Player of the Year candidate Dillon Brooks, the Pac-12 Player of the Year this season. If you don't know by now, his biggest trait is his knack for hitting the big shot in the game's biggest moments over and over. (Yasmin Vahdatpour/ALOST)

No. 3 Oregon

Like this buzzer-beating three against Cal on Feb. 22 that was SportsCenter's Top Play that night, even ahead of John Gillon's banked-in winner for Syracuse over Duke at the Carrier Dome.
(Yasmin Vahdatpour/ALOST)

No. 3 Oregon

Oregon, before last week, had every element you wanted to see in a national championship team. That was the case, until one of the best big men in the country, Chris Boucher, tore his ACL in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals last Friday and was ruled out for the season. The long, lanky Boucher is one of the rare big men in college basketball who could block at least two shots while hitting at least two three-pointers in the same game. His loss severely affects this team's ability to make the Final Four and, in Oregon's next game, the absence of Boucher could be very, very costly...(Yasmin Vahdatpour/ALOST)

No. 14 Iona

...because Iona might have the best big man on the court in Sacramento, and it might not even be close after Boucher's injury. Jordan Washington, for the time he spends on the court, might be the most productive offensive post player in America. The 6-foot-8 Washington averages 17.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest, but only averages 21.6 minutes played due to constantly being in foul trouble. If you project those numbers to a per 40 minute rate, Washington averages 33.1 points and 13.8 rebounds per 40 minutes. Yowza!! Whether Iona can pull an upset or not against the Ducks lies squarely on the ability of Washington to stay on the floor, since he averages 3.5 fouls committed per game. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 14 Iona

Another reason Iona is a good upset pick is because the team is money from the free throw line. Led by Schadrac Casimir (first name pronounced like "Cedric"), Iona shoots 77 percent from the free throw line, ranking 14th in D-1. Casimir shoots 94 percent from the charity stripe, hitting 46 of his 49 foul shots on the year. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 7 Michigan

What can you say about the Wolverines that hasn't been said (or have heard being said about them) after their ordeal in getting to Washington D.C. for the Big Ten Tournament, let alone winning the tournament? For those who don't know, the team plane skidded off the runway last Wednesday when it was getting ready to fly to Washington D.C. to play in the Big Ten Tourney. No one was hurt, but the Wolverines were forced to fly into D.C. the next day, which was the same day as their first game in the Big Ten Tourney. Not only did they win that game (wearing their practice uniforms no less), they won three more games and won the tourney. Wow. The shot on the left is right after Michigan's win over top-seeded Purdue in the quarterfinals on Friday. (ALOST)

No. 7 Michigan

Zak Irvin (21) may very well be the Big Ten's Ironman, and he showed it in the Big Ten Tournament. He played 37 out of a possible 40 minutes in three of the four tourney games. In the other, he played all 45 minutes in the overtime win over the Boilermakers. (Herbert Delancey/America Sports Network)

No. 7 Michigan

Derrick Walton Jr. (10) more than deserved the MVP award of the Big Ten Tournament, averaging 20.5 points and three 3-pointers per contest in the four games. In the semifinals against Minnesota, he dropped 29 points, and followed that performance with 22 in the title game against Wisconsin. (Herbert Delancey/America Sports Network)

No. 7 Michigan

A Michigan team playing with momentum is one of the scariest things any opponent could see in the NCAA Tournament. That's because head coach John Beilein is, inarguably, one of the top five head coaches in America when it comes to navigating the NCAA Tournament field and advancing in the Big Dance, going all the way back to 1998, when he coached a 14th-seeded Richmond team to an NCAA Tournament win. Eliminating a Beilein-coached team in the NCAA Tournament takes A LOT OF HARD WORK! (Herbert Delancey/America Sports Network)

No. 10 Oklahoma State

Do yourself a favor on Thursday: make sure you see this man, Jawun Evans (1), play basketball. One of the most explosive guards in the country, Evans helped spearhead the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament in head coach Brad Underwood's first season in charge. Evans, who averages 19.0 points, has averaged 26.7 points in the team's last three games - two against Big 12 Tournament champion Iowa State and one against Big 12 regular season champion Kansas. Good luck in trying to contain him, Michigan. (Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

No. 2 Louisville

I'm sure Rick Pitino, despite the loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, has to be pleased with his Cardinals this season. Defensively, the Cardinals are more than capable of reaching the Final Four, but the offense remains a concern. Can they score and shoot well enough from the floor? (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 2 Louisville

Two years ago, Quentin Snider was a freshman who had taken over the starting point guard duties in the middle of the season and had to grow up quickly. He did just that, bringing the Cards to within an overtime period in the Elite Eight from reaching the Final Four. Two years later and Snider is the unquestioned leader. Once again, the key to the Cardinals' success in the tournament rests on his shoulders. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

No. 2 Louisville

No. 2 Louisville

Deng Adel is the team's third scoring option, and the Cardinals rely heavily on Snider, Mitchell and Adel to put the ball in the basket.
All three shoot below 42 percent from the field on the season, so if the Cardinals aren't forcing turnovers and getting extra possessions, they are very vulnerable. Then again, they force a LOT of turnovers, which leads to all those extra possessions - and a 24-8 record (12-6 in the ACC). A potential second-round matchup with Michigan, the nation's leader in fewest turnovers committed, will be a massive test for the Cardinals. (Robert Cole/ALOST)

What's Our Pick to Win the Midwest Region?

I think LaGerald Vick of Kansas is trying to tell me that it will be his Jayhawks that will go back to Kansas City for the Midwest Regionals, make amends for coming up short in the Big 12 Tournament at the same venue and make it to the Final Four. Do we agree?

Is There a Surprise in the Cards?

Well, I'm sure DJ Wilson of Michigan disagrees with that, and I'm sure he's telling A Lot of Sports Talk's Lauren Foti that very same thing. So, will there be a surprise winner of the Midwest region, like the Big Ten Tournament champions?

Surprise!

There will be a surprise, and we think it will be a Big Ten team advancing from this region and on to Glendale - but not the Wolverines. We love what the Boilermakers bring to the table, led by the Big Ten Player of the Year in Swanigan. The team's lethal three-point shooting, plus the addition of freshman point guard Carsen Edwards, who's not shy from making the big play late, was enough to tip the scales towards Purdue. Boiler Up! (Robert Cole/ALOST)

With apologies to Christmastime and St. Patrick’s Day (the latter being just around the corner), the most wonderful time of the year – especially for sports fans – is nigh, with the 2017 NCAA Tournament officially getting started today with the play-in games taking place in Dayton. Throughout most of the season, A Lot of Sports Talk has had the honor of being able to have a photographer courtside for many of the game’s biggest contests, and in so doing, has managed to take photos of players and coaches from teams that, combined, make up more than half of the 2017 NCAA Tournament field. Hmm…what’s there to do with all of these pictures?

How about creating a super duper photo gallery and fuse it with our NCAA Tournament preview?

Well, that’s exactly what we’ve done, as the next four “Snap Judgments” galleries will all be an extensive display of photos, taken from our lenses, of the major players who make up each of the four regions of the NCAA Tournament. Along with the photos, the captions will provide details on each of the teams highlighted as we preview almost each team in each region and edify you with what you need to know to better familiarize yourself with those teams. At the end of each gallery, we make our prediction as to which team we believe will make the Final Four in Glendale, Ariz.

Our latest preview is of the Midwest Region, where the top seed is the Kansas Jayhawks, looking to bounce back from a shocking Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals loss to TCU to make it back to Kansas City for the South Regionals. The team that went on to win the Big 12 Tournament, the Iowa State Cyclones, are also in the region, and two wins by both them and the Jayhawks would see the two square off in the Sweet 16. Louisville is the No. 2 seed in the region, and it seems like Rick Pitino is due for another Final Four appearance. His last Final Four, one in which the Cardinals won it all in 2013, paired Pitino with John Beilein in the national championship game, and that may very well happen again in the second round with the Wolverines as the No. 7 seed. One of the powers out West all season long, the Oregon Ducks look to prove the Pac-12’s might by taking the region away from the aforementioned schools. But, because of the team it drew in the first round to go along with a key injury to one of its best frontcourt players, is Oregon ripe for an early upset against an upstart from the Empire State?

We would not have been able to entertain this story idea without the yeoman effort of our photographer Robert Cole, who snapped almost all of the 39 pictures in this gallery. Special thanks also go out to Bay Area-based photographer Yasmin Vahdatpour, as well as New York City-based photojournalist Herbert Delancey of the America Sports Network, whose work is also featured in this gallery. Note: Not all teams are represented with a photo, so our apologies if your team isn’t a part of the gallery. That doesn’t mean we don’t have love for you. More often than not, that means we weren’t able to make it out to the school’s location to have a photographer present to shoot them. Pictures that were not taken my A Lot of Sports Talk but featured in the galleries are noted in parenthesis at the end of each caption.

Keep refreshing this page over the next couple of hours, as we will roll out previews of each of the other regions over the next few hours. Earlier this week, we released our previews of the East and South regions. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures.

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Read about your favorite sports - and cover them in person as well! Long-time ESPN Magazine reporter Adesina O. Koiki, along with various contributors, covers any and all sports from coast to coast, delivering interviews you want to hear with athletes, coaches and journalists. Join us!